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The rankings, which are done with the help of an expert panel, including several categories, such as Best Weight-Loss Diets, Best Diets for Healthy Eating, Easiest Diets to Follow, Best Diets for Diabetes and Best Plant-Based Diets. That's an acknowledgment that not everyone is looking for the same thing in a diet.

“I really encourage people to look through some of these diets that are ranked by professionals and see if there’s one that’s ranked high in the Best Diets Overall and healthful eating," said panelist Andrea Giancoli, a registered dietitian and nutrition communications consultant in California.

But it's important that you have the right mindset, said Lisa Zahradnicek, a dietitian with KentuckyOne Health's Healthy Lifestyle Centers.

"People can tell you that you need to lose weight - like your doctor, for example - but if you're not ready, it's not going to happen," she said. "It's got to be that motivation and drive from within."

Giancoli discourages people from jumping on fads that claim miraculous results without determining whether there's research to back them up. “I don’t recommend that people go on a quick weight-loss scheme and lose weight right away in the new year cause that won’t be maintained,” she said.

Diets that did poorly in the rankings include the Whole30, the Dukan and Paleo diets because they are "too restrictive and are not easily sustainable in the long term," according to U.S. News & World Report.

For the seventh year in a row, the DASH diet was named the Best Diet Overall. It was followed by the Mediterranean diet, which came in second place, and the MIND diet, which came in third.

DASH is an eating plan promoted by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute that's chock-full of fruits, vegetables, fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products, whole grains, fish, poultry, beans, seeds and nuts, according to the institute. It also contains less sodium, sweets and sugary beverages, fats and red meats than the typical American diet.

DASH is intended to prevent or lower high blood pressure, “but it turns out that a diet that helps you lower blood pressure and control your blood pressure … is a pretty healthy diet,” Giancoli said. “… It’s really good for anybody, whether you’re looking to lower your blood pressure or not.”

Zahradnicek agreed, saying, "It’s a great way for the whole family to be eating."

In the new rankings, DASH was top or tied for first in several categories, including Best Diets for Healthy Eating, Best Diets for Heart Disease (tied with the Ornish diet) and Best Diets for Diabetes. It tied with the Ornish diet for third place in the Best Plant-Based Diets category.

Weight Watchers earned the top spot in the Best Weight Loss Diets category. Its Beyond the Scale Program, launched in late 2015, assigns foods and beverages a SmartPoints value, based on their nutrition.

“Weight Watchers concentrates on slow, steady weight loss, not fast weight loss so that one can maintain that weight loss," Giancoli said.

But Weight Watchers also nabbed the top spot in the Best Fast Weight-Loss Diets, tying with the HMR Program, which involves consuming meal replacements, eating lots of fruits and vegetables and boosting physical activity.

In the overall rankings, the popular Mediterranean diet moved up from fourth place. It mimics the fish-and-olive-oil consuming habits of people in countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. They tend to live longer and suffer less from cancer and cardiovascular ailments than a lot of Americans, according to U.S. News & World Report. "The not-so-surprising secret is an active lifestyle, weight control and a diet low in red meat, sugar and saturated fat and high in produce, nuts and other healthful foods."

Followers of that diet also are allowed to drink alcohol, such as red wine, which is an attractive perk to some people, Giancoli said. Alcohol can be beneficial when “consumed in a healthy way."

The No. 3 overall winner, the MIND diet, takes elements from the DASH diet and the Mediterranean diet. Its name stands for Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay.

The diet, which emphasizes green leafy vegetables and other healthy fare, focuses on foods that are thought to be brain-healthy. It's about “what kind of foods are out there that can really feed the brain – help protect it – and it’s really trying to look at ways of preventing dementia or Alzheimer’s,” Giancoli said.

No matter which diet you choose, try to pick something you can stick to, and consult with a professional for extra support if needed, Zahradnicek said. And don't forget about being physically active, whether that's going for a run or ballroom dancing. "You've just got to find an activity that you love and don't think of it as exercise, but you're getting up and being active," she said.

Reporter Darla Carter can be reached at 502-582-7068 or dcarter@courier-journal.com.

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